Multiple clones of metallo-β-lactamase-producing Acinetobacter ursingii in a children hospital from Argentina

Abstract

Acinetobacter spp. are opportunistic pathogens being A. baumannii the most frequently identified in nosocomial settings. A. ursingii was mainly described as causing bacteremia and outbreaks in neonatal intensive care units. Ten A. ursingii isolates were recovered from rectal swab screening for carbapenemase-producing bacteria between June 2013 and December 2015 from a children hospital in Argentina. All ten isolates were metallo-β-lactamase-producing, nine were positive for blaIMP-1 and one for blaNDM-1. IMP-positive isolates were also positive for blaOXA-58 gene. All isolates were susceptible to ciprofloxacin, colistin and minocycline, and nine were susceptible to ampicillin-sulbactam and gentamicin. Two A. ursingii displayed high level of resistance to aztreonam associated with blaCTX-M-15 in one isolate, and blaVEB-1 in the other. Eight SmaI-PFGE patterns were recognized. We evaluated the usefulness of Acinetobacter MLST-Pasteur scheme, to analyse A. ursingii isolates, however the rpoB gene was not amplified. A new set of primers were designed for specific amplification and sequencing, allowing the analysis of rpoB gene for this species. New alleles and the sequence types 748, 749, 750, 751, 993, 1186, 1187, and 1189 were included at the Acinetobacter MLST-Pasteur database. Those isolates showing related PFGE patterns were assigned to the same ST. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of MBL-producing A. ursingii in Argentina. The inclusion of A. ursingii species to the Acinetobacter MLST-Pasteur scheme allows deeper molecular characterization and a better understanding about the epidemiology of this germen.